Where Can I Find Jesus?

               This summer, over a three week period, I traveled all over the country.  As a daily communicant, I found Jesus in a plethora of sacred and beautiful places.  In my journeys, I encountered the “One Holy, catholic and apostolate church” in all of its diversity and variety and yet it’s consistency.

               In Los Angeles, I joined the more the 70 daily worshipers at the 6:30 am mass at St. Justine Martyr Church.  It is the closest church to Disneyland!  The parishioners who attend this mass greet each other with love before and after mass.

               On our way to the airport for an overnight flight, we stopped at St. Anthony of Padua in Long Beach.  The mosaic artwork was striking in this place of worship.  Father Jose gave a beautiful homily and from what I could gather, the church has claimed a four or five square block area of Long Beach and provides services for the elderly, poor, unemployed and other wise needy.

               Back at my home base of St. Bernadette in Silver Spring, I gave thanks to God for this wonderful parish and the excellent music.  My second “home” parish is St. Michael's and I appreciate the simplicity of this church and its beautiful statue of St. Michael.  The statue reminds me that we are not alone on this earth.

               My third home parish is the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on the grounds of Catholic University.  It is across the street from one of my clients and I am often able to go to their 8 am mass in the Crypt Church.  Surrounded by beautiful stone work and dozens of images of Mary, the Mother of God, it is always a treat to celebrate the Eucharist in “Mary’s House”.

               I also attend the 9:30 mass at St. John the Evangelist and spent time after in their perpetual adoration chapel.  It is a modest chapel, but Jesus is there just the same!

               In Saint Louis, I worshiped at St. Monica’s in a St. Louis suburb.  I happened to be there for the mass that opened the school year for the teachers.  It is another warm and welcoming community.

               A real treat was the opportunity to attend mass at the Basilica Cathedral of St. Louis.  This is the “new” cathedral which is over 100 years old.  The ceilings and chapels are a feast of mosaic work illustrating events from the Bible.  My favorite is one that shows Jesus, newly risen with Mary Magdalene falling to her knees without stretched arms shouting “raboni”.  Well, I couldn’t hear words, but the art clearly detailed this event.

               While I didn’t attend mass at St. Cronan in downtown Saint Louis, we had a tour of this modest church that began as a barn!

               While in New Jersey, at the Catholic Writers Conference, I had the pleasure of attending mass celebrated by well known priests Fr. Andrew Apostole and Father Donald Calloway. Mass in a hotel ballroom is always a little awkward, but the Eucharist is there!

               Finally, at home on Sunday, I celebrated mass with my Third Order Dominican Community at the Dominican House of Studies.  The chapel has the feel of an old world chapel.

               Three weeks, ten different churches and yet I am able to celebrate the same mass in every place.  Each place celebrates the same liturgy.  And in every place, I can find Jesus!

A Birthday Reflection

               Today, I turn 56 years old.  I shake my head and wonder how it can be that my life is advancing so quickly.  Last year, turning 55 felt shocking as it seemed like I had just turned 50 and that meant that I would be 60 before I knew it.  So how have I changed in the past year?

               Slowing the pace of the day – Although the weeks and months continue to fly by at a rapid pace, I find pleasure and joy in the average moments of each day.  Whether it is a conversation with my husband, something my son tells me, a few minutes catching up with a friend or time to ponder a prayer from the mass or office, I find myself appreciating these everyday encounters.  And while I still enjoy looking forward to celebration of big holidays and vacations, I am finding more joy in daily life.

               Wanting less and feeling like I have more – This past year has brought to me an urgency to simplify my life by divesting myself of so much of the “stuff” that we have accumulated.  Even before we made the decision to move, I wanted to sell the large house we own and find a smaller place to live.  That will now happen as we make the move to Missouri in 2015.  Now, I am finding that I want to fill that empty guest room.  We have the space, so how can we share the space with others?

               Accepting the inevitability of aging – Rather than aggressively combating the aging process, I’m happy to find peace in it.  I desire to take better care of my body and to be active.  That occasional nagging in my knee or ache in my hands helps to remind me that this is not my true home.

               Carpe Diem – Finding new adventures and taking risks is a surprising twist in this middle aged life.  I expected things to be fairly routine and perhaps boring in my 50s.  Instead, I find that God has me filling my brain with philosophy and theology that I missed in my formal education.  He has me stretching out my hands in ways that I would not have imagined a few years ago.  Seizing the day is the routine activity!

               In my 56^th year, I have found peace and growth, both due to my increased love for God.  Through His sacraments, especially Eucharist and Confession, I find that the Holy Spirit is able to guide me and that I am more willing to follow His precepts. Pope Francis recently remarked that the Sacraments are not magic, but frequent reception of communion and use of reconciliation has incrementally changed me into a woman who cannot live without God.

              

               What more could I asked on my 56^th birthday?

Chapel of St. Catheine

I have just returned from a 10-day pilgrimage to Italy.  I stayed in Sienna, Assisi and Rome.  This journey took me to many places physically and spiritually and I will probably refer to this trip for some time in this blog.  I feel like I have stored up enough spiritual food to think about and ponder for many weeks.

One afternoon in Rome, I walked across the city center to visit Santa Sabina, a church originally built in the 400’s.  St. Dominic built his monastery adjacent to the church in the 1200’s and it is one of the many places where St. Thomas Aquinas studied and wrote.  On a warm, sunny day in Rome, my walk took me through the Pizza Navvona, past the Pantheon – only because I got lost – and then along the Tiber River. 

There was much to see, hear and smell.  On the way to the church, I stopped to visit other churches, take photos and fill my water bottle from the public fountains.  I approached an intersection near the church. Studying my map, I was not sure which way to go.  I decided to go straight and then about ten steps later looked up and remembered that this ancient place of worship was on a hill.  Oh, yes, as I craned my neck upward, I could see it on a very high hill.  I walked back to the intersection and began my journey up the hill.  As I rounded the corner, there was the back of the Roman Forum.  What an unexpected surprise and a fabulous view!

I walked, sometimes slowly and sometimes quickly up the steep hill.   There was a park on my right as and then found the church.  Unlike many Roman churches, the interior is very similar to the way it was when it was built.  I was thrilled to be in the same place that St. Dominic and St. Thomas Aquinas prayed.  After looking around, and lighting a candle for the vocation of a young friend, I knelt down in a chapel to pray a decade of the Rosary.

As I finished, I look up and saw that there were four paintings of a woman that surrounded the painting in the dome. “Who is this?”  I thought.  “No, I don’t think it is the Mary, the Mother of God.”  My mind began to flip though the many paintings and mosaics of saints that I had viewed in the past week.  The woman held up her hands in some of the paintings, and then I recognized the stigmata on her hands.  “Oh yes, she is St. Catherine of Sienna!” I remarked to myself.  (St. Catherine was a Dominican, so it makes sense that she is honored in this church.)

I felt a shiver run up my spine as I gazed at one particular painting.  Saint Catherine is kneeling with her hands held in front of her.  Jesus is on one knee as he offers her the Eucharist.  The painting captures the moment as Jesus offers His sacrifice and she opens her mouth to accept it.  I cannot describe the beauty of the moment and the photo that I took is hard to view as sun was shining on only a portion of the photo.

My mind has often been preoccupied with this painting as I wonder at the beauty of it.  It captures, in a different way what Christ has done for us.  He offered himself on the Cross so that we can have eternal life.  And He feeds us in so many ways: through the Eucharist, in our prayers, in guiding us through our daily life and asking us to be Him to others each day.    

If you want to view an image of the chapel ceiling, you can click on this link http://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/5668830050/ .  The painting I mention is in the upper right corner of the image. 

It was a remarkable afternoon walk.  Good for my soul, and my body.  This is only a slice of the astounding, marvelous discoveries that I experienced on this trip.  My wish for you, the reader, is that you are able to visit holy, historic places in your lifetime.